I regret enrolling my daughter here. Despite committing early (touring in Feb 2024, paying a…read moredeposit, and submitting all forms), the school's lack of communication, disorganization, and disregard for basic safety and hygiene created a deeply frustrating and emotionally exhausting year. From misplaced incident reports and unaddressed injuries, to administrative errors and tone-deaf leadership, this school consistently failed to provide a safe, transparent, and developmentally supportive environment. My daughter came home with swollen lips, unexplained bruises, missing shoes, and stories of peer mistreatment -- with no formal documentation provided, despite repeated requests. These were not isolated events; I have video/photo documentation, and other parents voiced similar concerns in meetings. The director's conduct was both inappropriate and hypocritical -- once sending me a photo of my 3-year-old with paper in her mouth and demanding I "talk to her about telling the truth" over a harmless joke (gum from dad), while gaslighting parents about emails that were never sent. We were made to feel like the problem, when in reality the school's tech systems, operations, and staffing plans were simply broken. Staffing was unstable -- the lead teacher left for maternity leave with no real succession plan. Parents were informed of changes through hallway gossip before any official notice. Other red flags included: * Poor nap hygiene (child's skin broke out); * No proper underwear/clean clothes sent home; * Unsafe food handling policies; * Lost orthopedic shoes due to mishandling after an accident -- only replaced after escalation; * Inconsistent behavioral reporting, with my child being singled out for normal 3-year-old behavior, while aggressive peer behavior went unaddressed all year. The school showed a lack of respect for working parents, sending critical updates (like school closures) late at night and offering no accessible options for required events (no childcare, no virtual options, last-minute notices). They ran meetings on free Zoom accounts that cut off mid-call, used free Gmail accounts, and misunderstood basic tools like unlisted YouTube links. My concerns were dismissed, incident reports were never filed, and when I reported this to the county, I was told it was "too late." Given how long and hard I tried to resolve these issues internally -- and my documentation of events -- this only added to the heartbreak. In hindsight, I should have trusted my gut and pulled my child out much earlier. If you're a parent considering this school, please ask hard questions about staff turnover, behavior policies, safety reporting, and operational transparency. And if something feels off -- trust yourself.

Will only state the facts that lead to this review…read more.. In preparation for our move to VA this year, my family and I have been searching for a suitable Montessori school within this area. After speaking with Cardinal several times via the phone we felt that this might be a great option. A few weeks ago, my wife had scheduled a school tour and staff meet with Cardinal's senior coordinator (not official title) to allow us to see a routine day at the school and view its operation. We scheduled the tour for a Friday, which we were told was not "normal" but would be allowed given the fact that my family had to drive 5+ hours to get there. The tour was locked on that Monday with a 0930 start time on Friday. We had no other communication from the school throughout the week and on Thursday afternoon, we hit the road after I had gotten off work and arrived in VA just after midnight. We were up the following Friday morning and arrived at Cardinal at 0910 to an empty parking lot, locked building, lights off, and no one on site... We sat, waited, and attempted to call anyone with no luck and no response. It was about 0930 when finally a car pulled up and a women was dropped off. She didn't engage us at all and simply walked into the school. My wife proceeded to knock on the door and was met by said women who appeared to be cleaning. My wife explained our situation to the women who simply laughed, nodded, and said that the school was closed due to a maintenance emergency. A few minutes later, another women arrived who identified herself as a teacher. We calmly explained how we were scheduled to meet with a Ms. Igera for our tour but had not been able to reach her or anyone else. The teacher looked surprised and quickly reiterated that the school had been closed for the last few days. She then pulled out her phone and said she would call the "school owner" who was already on her way to Cardinal. At approx. 0945 the school co-owner arrived and welcomed us inside. We explained, again, who we were and why we were there. She quickly apologized and then explained how the school closed on Wednesday and Thursday due to plumbing issues. They had sent all the students and staff home and were now back (Friday morning) in order to clean for the reopening on Monday. She didn't ask any further about the botched tour appointment, but rather tried to go right into her pitch for the school. At the end of the walk-through, we were on our way out the door when we asked for Ms. Igera to call us about the clear failure in communication. The Co-owner said she would, glorified her staff, and said she hoped we would consider them when we moved... Fast forward 2+ weeks later....we got that call.... And it was to schedule yet another tour at the school. Nothing more. The level of complete disregard, disrespect, and sheer unprofessionalism that went into this waste of time is truly astounding. For better perspective, here is a better overview of all my family and I sacrificed in order to simply VISIT the school and observe its operation. - late night drive 5+ hours after work. - pulled my 4yo daughter out of current school in order to see the Cardinal school and meet the teachers. - my wife is 7 months pregnant at the time of all this. And she had to make all these movements. - I scheduled a full day away from work to make this trip happen. - spent hundreds on gas to make the round trip. Along with paying for a hotel in order to stay overnight... The Cardinal school may do just fine in some things, but I find it hard to imagine what. The coordination, communication, and lack of accountability is frightening. To make a commitment to an outside family who is willing to spend thousands on the betterment of their children's care and education and then not even have the courtesy to communicate a simple appointment change is unacceptable. I would HIGHLY encourage any family seeking a Montessori program to move on and explore other options (military families or otherwise). I have nothing negative to post about the teachers who work here, simply the lack of efficient and effective administrative overview of the school itself. This was not a sophisticated encounter, but rather a simple and what I would image routine engagement with an interested party. If this is how they treat an unaffiliated party, how do they respond under higher stress situations? Who actually maintains the schools appointments? Who is charge of registrations? Etc... Bottom line, keep searching. There are other great options within this region of VA, as my family and I learned. So disappointed to leave a review of this manner on a Montessori related establishment, but title alone does not guarantee quality. I truly hope this review can bring about a greater awareness of the low standard practices at Cardinal.

We adore the Prince William Academy in Woodbridge, Virginia. From the teachers to the students to…read morethe challenging educational modules. The school curriculum has created an extensive and well-organized Academic program. It fosters sound leadership skills while learning in a creative and structured environment of kindness, and responsibility. Good efforts by all Prince William Academy Leadership, Teachers, and Staff. We are very happy with our child attending the Prince William Academy in Woodbridge, Virginia.

The middle school failed my child this school year. There's a notorious group of students that…read moresystematically bully new kids or someone outside their circle and the worst part, these students are favored among teachers. Multiple complains to the principal resulted in NOTHING! Only a check mark talk with the offenders and the vicious cycle goes on. It's a disgrace that teachers only promote their favorites to win competitions like Science fair. The middle school drastically lacked any fun or engaging events, fundraisers or activities that encouraged team work and inclusion of parents. There was only one field trip throughout the year and no promised end of year concert that even public schools have. The end of year award ceremony was unfairly selective. Throughout the year we got Zero photos from any teacher showing a school day, so it feels like this year just fell out equation with no memories to look back to. There's no graduation ceremony for 5th graders either, which they truly deserve. Since the new owner took over, the school environment (especially in upped grades) is rapidly deteriorating. And it's not surprising, the owner lives outside the country and rarely shows up. My gut feeling was right when I checked the school website before we enrolled and it was generic. And that's how this year felt, generic! A generic website with no teacher names, stock photos of students, there's nothing there that shows actual student life or curriculum or shows any photos of the teachers. This place is about squeezing every dollar they can from paying parents, while failing on delivering the fair support and equal opportunities every student deserves.

Fitzgarald is a very good school I am in 4th grade and i love it i have been there for 3 years I…read morereally recameod this school

My son transferred here for his kindergarten year (2018-2019) and I this is an awesome school. My…read moreson literally asks to go to school on the weekend. He enjoyed his kindergarten teacher this year and she was very attentive to his academic needs and behavior socially. She kept in touch with me when he was struggling in areas. Very secure with him going here. First time parenting is nerve wrecking and they all handle it well, especially the ladies in the front office, principle always called back within 3 hrs or less whenever I called in with a concern. If you're in this area, this is a very good school.

I absolutely love this High School! I just graduated from here back on May 31st 2019 and I have to…read moresay my experience here was very great! If you live in Prince William County and are looking for a great High School, I highly recommend Forest Park!

Best school I've ever been to. This school deserves so much recognition. Let's go bruins!read more

The things these kids do to the bathrooms is diabolical, the staff tries so hard to make up for…read moretheir behavior but it doesn't work. Assigned tables at lunch in MIDDLE SCHOOL! kids are super disrespectful (especially if you have a service dog, it was hell). Teachers don't do crap about bullying. TS gets on my nerves! They had these chucky chromebook cases for a year but then removed them because they got moldy. Trust me it gets better but for these two years you just gotta buckle down and suffer.

I love this school and the staff. The teachers work hard to make sure the kids have a great time…read morewhile they are in middle school and are very supportive. Speaking of support, the ladies in the front office are the best! They do everything they can to help you with what you need and always do it with a smile. They are great with the kids and parents if they need any support. Karen always welcomes you with a warm smile and Jan can solve any problem!

My son just finished fifth grade here and I can't say enough wonderful things about the school…read more The teachers have been great and I loved the administration too. I felt that they really cared about the kids and not just for the time they were in elementary school. They did whatever they could to se the kids up for success in Middle School and beyond.

the front staff are very rude, give unnecessary commentary, I really do not understand why they…read moreare like that.

This school is absolutely awesome I had a wonderful time participating in this mental health 5K…read more This event was well put together and I absolutely luv the support of the people that participated in this event .

The admin do not care for their students. I went to talk to them about bullying and they told me…read morethey would talk to them and after that they don't want to hear anything about it. I had to transfer schools for my safety and they didn't care at all.

good school I go there and it's a great school everyone there is so nice and sweet the teacher are…read morenice but the students are welcoming and supportive